True North

I’ll give Juan Williams credit for talking about the Obamessiah’s race-related problems. It’s something that Democrats better come to grips with. Here’s the heart of Juan Williams’ article:

Hillary Clinton, down to her last straw, is making the case that she is the better candidate to run against the Republicans because, unlike Barack Obama, she can win white Democrats.

She is right. But because she is daring to touch the hot button of racial politics, she is being told to shut up or risk being charged with exploiting racial tensions for political advantage.

The facts are stubborn, however. Since his phenomenal win with 33% of the white vote in nearly all-white Iowa, Obama has been unable to get a firm grip on white Democrats. He has won a majority of these voters in only six states, the biggest of which is his home state of Illinois. Clinton has defeated Obama among white voters in key states such as California, Texas, Ohio, PennsylvaniaNorth Carolina. Exit polls show Clinton winning an overwhelming average of 57% of white Democrats since the February Super Tuesday elections.

If you think none of this is a real issue for Democrats as they try to win the White House, then listen to Republican guru Karl Rove. Citing Obama’s inability to get more than 30% of Catholics or working-class white voters in a big state such as Pennsylvania, Rove recently wrote: “Defections like this elect Republicans.”

And now we are heading into a general election with an even larger group of white voters in play, key independents and suburbanites in “toss-up” districts that swing between Republicans and Democrats. and

It would be wrong to think that this problem is all because of Jeremiah Wright. I think Obama’s problem stems as much from his SF fundraising speech as it stems from Jerremiah Wright. The combination of the Wright videos and the fundraising speech are a toxic mix that’ve sucked the air out of Obama’s campaign, especially with white voters.

More than anything, Obama has a credibility gap. The polling doesn’t show it yet but it will before the conventions. Sen. Obama’s credibility will take another hit once Stanley Kurtz’s article hits the airwaves. Kurtz’s article adds to the growing impression that Barack Obama is just another slick politician, not the postpartisan, post-racial candidate he’s been telling people.

Wright founded Trumpet Newsmagazine in 1982 as a “church newspaper”, primarily for his own congregation, one gathers, to “preach a message of social justice to those who might not hear it in worship service.” So Obama’s presence at sermons is not the only measure of his knowledge of Wright’s views. Glance through even a single issue of Trumpet, and Wright’s radical politics are everywhere, in the pictures, the headlines, the highlighted quotations, and above all in the articles themselves. It seems inconceivable that, in 20 years, Obama would never have picked up a copy of Trumpet. In fact, Obama himself graced the cover at least once (although efforts to obtain that issue from the publisher or Obama’s interview with the magazine from his campaign were unsuccessful).

I’ve maintained for some time that the Wright controversy isn’t going away. I’ve also said that it doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about Jeremiah Wright the last month of the campaign. Wright will continue hurting Obama because the damage is already done.

Because we don’t know that much about Obama, it’s possible to sway opinion of him. We can’t do that with Hillary. We know more than enough to form an opinion of her. Each time we hear about Wright’s radical politics, we ask whether Obama knew about the latest controversial statement. Anytime that questions surface that question Sen. Obama’s integrity, it’s more likely that he’ll take a hit. Be prepared to be disgusted while you read this Wright diatribe in the May, 2006 issue of Trumpet Magazine:

We need to educate our children to the reality of white supremacy.

We need to educate our children about the white supremacist’s foundations of the educational system.

When the levees in Louisiana broke alligators, crocodiles and piranha swam freely through what used to be the streets of New Orleans. That is an analogy that we need to drum into the heads of our African American children (and indeed all children!).

In the flood waters of white supremacy…there are also crocodiles, alligators and piranha!

The policies with which we live now and against which our children will have to struggle in order to bring about “the beloved community,” are policies shaped by predators.

We lay a foundation, deconstructing the household of white supremacy with tools that are not the master’s tools. We lay the foundation with hope. We deconstruct the vicious and demonic ideology of white supremacy with hope. Our hope is not built on faith-based dollars, empty liberal promises or veiled hate-filled preachments of the so-called conservatives. Our hope is built on Him who came in the flesh to set us free.

Hillary can win voters that Obama can’t get in his wildest dreams. Obama’s been underperforming amongst whites since the Wright tapes surfaced. If the Democrats want to give away this election, all they need do is nominate Obama.

Awhile back I wrote about Karl Rove’s electoral map. Against Hillary, McCain started with a base of 214 EVs. Against Obamessiah, McCain starts with 260 EVs locked down. That doesn’t give Obama any margin for error. We all know that he’ll commit more unforced errors as the head-to-head matchup takes center stage.

One last thing that’ll weigh Obama down is Michelle Obama. She’s more dispiriting than Obama is uplilfting. That won’t play well either.

Cross-posted and comments welcome at Let Freedom Ring.